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It has a small smile gracing her lips, too. “Got it. So, do we think the shoe impression will help?”
Andrik nods. “Surely, with those in our arsenal, we can figure out who has the correct shoes to match.”
“Probably,” she agrees. “But just because they know about the passages doesn’t make them the killer.”
“No, but we can look into them further,” I chime in.
Andrik runs a hand through his wet hair, seeming the least confident I’ve ever seen him. These murders are rattling all of us, but I’m sure it’s even harder on the two enforcers who are used to having a lab at their beck and call. Where they can receive results quickly and can easily solve cases on the daily. “It’s a starting point, which is more than what we have now,” he says softly.
“Definitely can’t argue with that. Lead the way.” Verity motions for us to go on ahead. As if. I snag her hand and hold it as Andrik leads us to the omega wing passageway. Jedrik and Kyle are already outside the entrance when we get there.
Jedrik takes one look at Verity and raises that shaved eyebrow of his. “Did you two have fun? I was getting a second-hand burn in the kitchen. Thought our group date might take a spicy turn.”
Verity blushes, but Andrik simply knocks him in the chest and leaves it unanswered.
A sort of longing appears in Kyle’s gaze, but he quickly covers it up when Verity smiles brightly at him and leans in to kiss him on the cheek.
Betas don’t have as strong of a sense of smell as alphas and omegas do, but there’s no mistaking Ver’s pears and Kyle’s caramel. They mix together well.
“So, how are we doing this?” I ask, shifting the conversation to the task at hand.
Jedrik holds up a notebook and I raise a questioning eyebrow. “There’s a trick I learned in the academy where you can use paper and dust to document a print.”
Huh. I never would’ve thought of that.
“Well, let’s get to it then. The less time we have to be in there, the better.” Kyle shudders.
“Agreed,” Andrik says. “Ver, I want you to stay in the middle. Let your pack protect you.”
I know Verity enough to know she’d never let someone sacrifice themself for her, but I don’t say anything. I’ll be keeping a close eye on our little omega. Hell, I even slipped a knife from the kitchen today while no one was watching to make sure I can protect us all. It’s obvious this killer is amping up his game, and I’m sure he has no intentions of stopping.
Jedrik pulls a small flashlight out of his pocket and then we’re off. He takes us down a spiral staircase to the next level where the off shooting hallway is. A colorful curse escapes him when he shines the beam on the path. I squint, looking for the footprints they were talking about, but the floor is bare. “Um, guys?”
Andrik pushes to the front and kneels, scraping a finger across the clean floor. “Fuck!” His voice echoes in the narrow passage. “It’s been swept clean.”
There’s a beat of silence while we process the implications.
“Meaning it’s likely the killer,” Kyle concludes, voicing what everyone is thinking.
“Precisely,” Jedrik growls.
I blow out a breath, pulling Verity against my chest. “Now what?” I ask.
Andrik shrugs. “I’m not sure. It’s obvious someone took a broom and swept away the evidence. We’re back to square one.” The frustration is evident in his tone and I get it. Every time it seems like we get a step closer, we go back five.
Verity tenses. “Maybe not square one exactly. I found something interesting in Chef LeBlanc’s office.”
Kyle spins, shock registering in his expression. He’s genuinely surprised Verity found dirt on his chef friend. “Wait, you did?”
Verity nods reluctantly. “It could be nothing, but in case it’s not…” She shrugs. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Emmett finally joins us in Verity’s room as she gathers the contents of what looks like a file, the pages strewn across the floor like it was tossed without a care. Once everything is in hand, she passes it to Jedrik. “I’m not sure what, if anything, it means, but it was behind a locked drawer alongside more files with all the contestants’ names on them.”
Jedrik scrolls through the papers and then passes them around to the rest of us. When Kyle sees it, he says, “The reason he has the files on everyone is because he needs to know their dietary restrictions and allergies, but why Chad is marked out and what these ingredients are for... I’m not sure.”
“It isn’t definite proof, but it’s suspicious, to say the least,” Emmett chimes in. “He stays on our suspect list.”
A groan escapes me. “Have we managed to cross anyone off?”
